“If we didn’t have Medicaid, I’m not sure what we would do”
Iain Boyd is a longtime pastor who works as the hospice and palliative care chaplain at St. Peter’s Health in Helena. His wife, Michelle, is a nurse who helps manage the Hospitalist team at St. Peter’s. They’re busy parents of 4 kids, juggling the needs and costs that come with providing for a family of six.
Medicaid coverage, Iain said, is key to getting by as a family.
Iain is currently enrolled in Montana’s expanded Medicaid program, which has provided coverage to low-income adults since 2015 when the Montana Legislature passed the Health and Economic Livelihood Partnership (HELP) Act. This year, Montana lawmakers will decide whether to continue the Montana Medicaid program as it is today.
Coverage provided by Medicaid means that instead of questioning if they have enough money to go to the doctor, Iain’s family gets the care they need, when they need it.
“If we didn’t have Medicaid, I’m not sure what we would do,” Iain said. “It would be a crisis for us personally.”
Iain stays healthy by seeking routine preventative care, as well as things like mental health counseling and treatment for sleep apnea. For his kids, staying healthy means not delaying care when they need a weekend visit to urgent care and making sure they’re getting routine visits during formative years when they’re developing and growing.
Iain’s work as a chaplain emphasizes the importance access to healthcare has for a person’s overall health.
“It’s just the reality of life that people who have to delay care wind up at the end of their life earlier,” he said. “We see that with hospice patients who haven’t been able to take care of themselves as they needed to. Their lives are shortened by it.”
Along with keeping families afloat and keeping them healthy, Iain sees Medicaid as aligned with Montana values.
“That’s what Medicaid is, a way for us to take care of each other,” he said.
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